"Because I Care"

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend!  We FINALLY had spring weather in my "neck of the woods" and it was wonderful! (although I didn't get to see as much of it as I wanted due to sitting in a dark auditorium for another dance competition!) 

My card today uses a stamp that is a favorite of mine from SU! -  I just love the flower in this set ("Because I Care").  Take a look:

I used a piece of kraft cs and stamped the flower with both Pool Party and Midnight Muse (both SU!).  I masked the flower then and stamped the background with SU!'s "Script" (retired) background stamp and Crumb Cake ink.  I added half of a doily (SU!) and a piece of sheer ribbon (Michael's) and then matted it to a layer of Midnight Muse and then a kraft cs base.  It still needed something (you know the feeling...it just doesn't look done!) - so I added a little banner and also a flower from SU!'s Vanilla Flower Trim.  I've seen a lot of stampers using these flowers and love the shabby chic look they give.  I used a sponge with Pool Party and Midnight Muse inks to give the flower a little color, added my sentiment (PTI) and then finished with a little faux stitching and sponging the edges with Midnight Muse.

That's all for today friends.  LOTS of birthdays this week, so I need to get busy and do some stamping!  Have a terrific Monday and take time to enjoy all of God's creations that are budding right now...I am always amazed at just the pure glory of it all!  I have been rather impatient this spring, but as always, He has made it worth the wait! :0) 

Make it Monday #113 Perfect Pearls - Take Two

Good morning friends.  I had so much fun with PTI's Make it Monday challenge this week, that I'm back with another card using the Perfect Pearls technique.  I needed a bunch of thank you notes for different people who helped out with the wedding last weekend, and I really wanted to stay with the same theme we had used for the wedding (SU!'s "Flowering Flourishes"), so here is what I came up with:

Again, this is a hard technique to photograph where you can see the actual brilliance of the card, but IRL, it is SO pretty!  I kept the card very simple to match the invitations, programs, cake, decorations, etc., and used just one image and then the sentiment.  I used the medium sized flourish from SU!'s "Flowering Flourishes", and VersaMark  and the Perfect Pearls in green for the main focal point, and then added the sentiment from PTI's "Embroidered Blooms".  I added a white card base to make the black and green pop, and also a sheer ribbon to the side.  Very clean and simple, but elegant! :0)

That's all for today friends.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend...it's supposed to be sunny and in the upper 60's/low 70's here in my "neck of the woods" and I am beyond excited!!! :0)  Spring has FINALLY sprung!  Thanks for stopping by and see you all next week!

April 2013 Blog Hop

Hello Friends.  Love to play along with Papertrey Ink's challenges and monthly blog hops, and this month's blog hop was to create a card on a diagonal.  After looking through all my PTI stamps, I realized I hadn't inked up my "Spring Hills" set yet, so that was my challenge for myself and I LOVE what I came up with!  Take a look:

I love what a simple, clean, and one layer card it turned out to be!  I simply stamped the house 3 times on a diagonal, then masked the houses so I could stamp the trees, added the flowers, and then colored the trees and flowers with a few Copics.  I stamped the "Love" sentiment repeatedly underneath the houses and then sponged the clouds above the houses.  Easy peasy, and I think this would make a great wedding or even new house card! :0)

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back tomorrow with another entry for this weeks Make it Monday challenge...I'm LOVING the Perfect Pearls technique! :0)

Make it Monday #113 - Perfect Pearls

Good morning friends.  Felt so good yesterday to have time to just sit down and play with PTI's latest challenge!  I panicked a little at first though, as I didn't think I had anything to play this challenge with.  But after a little digging, low and behold...I found a whole set of colors of the powdered pearls!  I couldn't even tell you how long I've had these....years and years and years probably!  But see, that's the good thing about buying things when you see them!  Don't look at it as hoarding...look at it as something you might NEED (not want!!) down the road! :0)  And I can't tell you how happy I am that I bought these way back when, because this was a really fun and beautiful technique!  Take a look:

The ONLY thing I did not like about this technique, is the inability to photograph the card so that you can see the brilliance that these perfect pearls have.  After looking at the other entries though, I know I am not the only one who had trouble capturing this.  In real life, this card just shines!  I used PTI's "Simple Sunflower" stamp set for the flowers and the sentiment is from PTI's "Embroidered Blooms".  The technique is very easy to do and Nichole did a great job with her video showing the steps at: http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/ . 

That's all for today friends!  Have a wonderful Wednesday and I hope to be back with some more inspiration later this week.  Thanks for stopping by...love it when you do!! :0)

Wedding Party Favors

Good morning friends.  Back today with just a quick post on the party favors I made for my daughters wedding.  I made 200 of these favors, so needless to say I am a little pillow box favored out!  Received LOTS of positive comments on them though, so I'm glad I put the time and effort into them!  Take a look:

I used PTI's Pillow Box die to cut them out, and then embossed them with a Darice embossing folder to add the bride and groom.  I used a sheer ribbon from Michael's and added a computer generated sentiment tag (SU!'s oval and scalloped oval punches).  Here's what I put in the inside of the boxes:

Have to have chocolate at a wedding, and the Smarties were for my son-in-law! :0)  I wish I would have remembered to take a picture of the 2 special pillow boxes that I made for the bride and groom...I used a textured white and gray card stock and added a bride to the white one and a groom to the gray one with PTI's bride and groom dies.  Got so wrapped up in all the little details that I just simply forgot to snap a picture...grrr!  (maybe they'll show up in some of the reception pictures!)

Finally starting to come back down to earth after all excitement of this past weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to get back on track with my stamping and blogging.  Thanks for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Wedding Day Card

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Our middle daughter got married and it was just a perfect day...the bride was absolutely beautiful, our son in law was incredibly handsome, and the day was filled with all our family and friends there to celebrate with us!  Wonderful, wonderful day! :0) 

Today I'd like to share the card I made for my daughters wedding.  I am just in love with PTI's "Birds & Blooms" stamp set and the technique used for a Make it Monday (#109) a while back - Watercolor Stamping Plus Embossing.  My daughters "theme" for her wedding was green and leaves, so here is what I came up with for her card:

 

 
 Again, this past month has been very cloudy, so my photo's don't really capture the detail, but click on the picture to enlarge it and you'll be able to see more.  Here's a close up shot to help a little bit:

I  used SU!'s Certainly Celery and Always Artichoke re-inkers to create the background before stamping the main wreath image again with VersaMark and white embossing powder.  I added one of the flower layers next with SU!'s Gumball Green ink to add a little of the color that was closest to the color we used for the wedding.  The rest was pretty simple...using a couple of my Spellbinder dies to cut out the circle and scalloped circle, attaching it to a textured white card base, embossing the "Wishing" sentiment in silver, and then adding a sheer bow to the wreath.  The inside is similar to the outside:

  
I basically did the opposite on the inside, and stamped the main wreath image in Gumball Green, and then embossed one of the flower layers with white embossing powder.  I added a couple more of the flower layers to add some more fullness with Certainly Celery  and stamping off with Gumball Green.  The sentiment over the wreath is part of the "Birds and Blooms" set and the "Congratulations" is from SU!'s "Love & Laughter" stamp set. 

Tomorrow I'll be back with the party favors I made for the reception, but until then, I'll leave you with a picture of the happy couple:

Thanks so much for stopping by today and hope you all have a wonderful Monday!  :0)

Make it Monday #112

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post of a card I made for PTI's Make it Monday challenge #112 - Embossed Alpha Die Cuts.  Ashley did a great video on taking your die cuts one step further by embossing them.  Take a look:

Wish the lighting had been better as the colors really are a lot brighter in real life.  Used PTI's "Birthday Style" stamp set and die and then embossed the "birthday" die cut with a dotted embossing folder and then embossed again with VersaMark and clear embossing powder.  In real life, the "birthday" really stands out because of the shine from the embossing.  Simple card but very pleased with the way it turned out! :0)

Thanks for stopping by today!  Had to get this posted before the challenge ends, but now I'm going to go crash again.  The wedding yesterday for our middle daughter couldn't have been more perfect from start to finish, but boy am I wiped out!  I'll be back later this week when I've had some more time to re-coup! (getting old don't ya know!)

Emboss & Watercolor Technique with Iris

Good morning friends.  Sorry for the lack of posting lately, but wedding things have taken over my life!  The big day is 2 days away now, and other than the flower snafoo, things are pretty well in place.  The card I'm sharing today is one I made at the same time I made the Lily of the Valley card last week with PTI's Make it Monday challenge using embossing and watercoloring.  I really like this technique...it makes such elegant cards!  Take a look at this card using a stamp of an Iris:

I love how this card turned out!  The stamp is one I've had for years and years and is from Embossing Arts Co.  I used SU!'s Crumb Cake ink to stamp the background with the French Script stamp and then stamped the Iris image with VersaMark and then embossed with white embossing powder.  I used an Aqua Painter and SU!'s Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke, & Certainly Celery re-inkers to color the flower.  I layered with Elegant Eggplant card stock and used a card base of the same light cream that I stamped the main image on.  The image itself is so stately and elegant that I didn't think the card needed anything else.  Here's a close up of part of the flower:

That's all for today friends and I'll be back sometime next week...have a beautiful wedding card to share with you then.  In the meantime, remember to keep all those in Boston and now in Waco, Texas in your prayers...what an unbelievable week!  My heart just breaks for all that loss of life and especially in Boston as it is just so senseless!  Can't help but wonder where the sanctity of life has gone?!!  John 1:5 gives me comfort in times like this...knowing that the world is dark, but Jesus has overcome the darkness.  Believe! :0)

Thanks again for stopping by...love it when you do! :0)

FFC06 - Theme Challenge

I know, I know!  What in the world am I doing stamping and playing challenges when I have a big wedding less than a week away now?!  I just can't seem to help myself...I'm seriously addicted to stamping!  And I just have to explain about this challenge over at Festive Fridays...I mean, take a look at the trigger picture:

I kept looking and looking at the picture and thinking, "what in the world would I ever do for a challenge like this?!"  My next thought was, "you just won't play...you're too busy getting ready for a wedding and that's a darn good excuse!!"  Only problem was, I couldn't stop thinking about what a "retro" card would look like.  So, like any self respecting stamper, I went to Pinterest and typed in "retro Christmas cards".  I really didn't think anything would come up, but boy was I surprised!  And the more I kept looking, the more the thoughts kept spinning.  And I couldn't believe that as a child growing up in the late 50's and early 60's, I had forgotten how cool that look was!  So, even though it's a very simple card, here's my take on it:

It was SU!'s "Print Pattern" background stamp (retired) that screamed "retro" to me, so I kept my color scheme very simple so as not to detract from the background.  I used SU!'s ornament punch and "Delightful Decorations" stamp set  for the 2 ornaments, PTI's "Birthday Style" for the silver embossing, and the sentiment stamp is from Verses Rubber Stamps.  My ink was SU!'s Real Red and the layer behind the stamped images is Real Red card stock.  If you click on the picture, it shows a little bit better that I used pop dots behind the ornaments and the 3/4" circle decorations.  My lighting is also not the best, and the card almost looks a bit orangey, when IRL it's a pretty deep red.  Anyways, that's my card, and I really did have a good time playing along with this challenge...thanks Meredith for making me do a bit of thinking this time round! :0)

Hope you enjoyed my take on this themed challenge and thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)

Make it Monday #111

Good morning friends.  When I saw Heather Nichols beautiful card over at PTI's latest Make it Monday challenge, I knew I had to play!  The challenge was to use embossing and watercoloring, which combined together, makes a truly beautiful effect!  My only struggle with this challenge, was photographing it!  This is one of those cards that in real life, really, really is so pretty!  Take a look:

I used PTI's "Year of Flowers: Lily of the Valley" for this card.  I started by using SU!'s Crumb Cake ink and "French Script" background stamp on a layer of really light tan cs from my local stamp store.  I then embossed the flower image with VersaMark and white embossing powder.  For the leaves and stems, I used SU!'s Certainly Celery and Always Artichoke re-inkers and my Aqua Painter.  When it came time for the flowers, I admit I was a little stumped what to use, as I didn't have a white re-inker.  I tried using a white water color pencil, but it simply did not show up!  I ended up and used a product called "Smooch", which is a pearlized top coat.  It works almost like a nail polish as far as applying it.  Once it dries, it gives this really pretty pearlized look to the flowers that like I said earlier, I just couldn't seem to capture with my camera...grrrrrrrrr!  Here's a close up that shows the flowers a little better:

   

I finished the card by layering it with Always Artichoke, and then the card base is the same light tan cs.  I added seam binding ribbon (Spring Moss), a button tied with jute, and a little tag from PTI's Ting Tags die and stamp set to finish the card.

That's all for this week friends!  Thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)

Festive Friday Color Challenge

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend!  Spent mine doing wedding things of course, but did find some time to play along with the Festive Friday challenge (FFC05), which this time was to use the colors blush, aqua, & gold.

Not a hardship at all to play with these colors...loved it!  Here's my take on it:

My starting point was some BoBunny designer paper, and then used one of my favorite PTI stamp sets - "Winter Hills".  I used my Copics to color the scene, and then simply layered with the designer paper and SU!'s Pool Party card stock, added a sparkly gold snowflake (Memory Box Dies - Bianca Snowflake), and finished with a ribbon and aqua button.  Oh, and added the center from the snowflake behind the button to add a little more gold to the card.

  Came together very easily, and the colors just make me smile!  There's a lot more to smile at too, if you head over to the Festive Friday blog, so make sure you check it out! :0)

Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful Monday. :0)

MIM #110 - Collage Elements

Good morning friends.  Had to carve out some time to try PTI's latest Make it Monday challenge after watching Dawn's video.  It's all about using different stamps to create backgrounds, and Dawn McVey (My Favorite Things) did a great job explaining how to do this on her video, which can be found here: http://www.dawnmcvey.typepad.com/

I pulled out 2 of my favorite SU! background stamps to get started, and this is what I ended up with:

You basically just start at the bottom and work your way up!  I started with SU!'s "Weathered" background stamp using Crumb Cake ink, and then added the "French Script" (SU!) next using Certainly Celery ink.  I added my sentiment next from PTI's "Funky Florals" set, and then added half of the border from PTI's "Boutique Borders Birthday" under my sentiment to make it stand out a little more.  Next I added the flourish in Old Olive from SU!'s "Priceless" set, and then started filling in with Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery using some of the stamps from the "Funky Florals" set.  I used the PTI dies that coordinate to cut out the layers for my flower, and then embossed the top layer in gold embossing powder to give a bit of sparkle.  After adding a button and bakers twine to the center, I thought I was finished, but decided it needed a bit more sparkle. I used the back of a pencil eraser with my Crumb Cake ink to create the dots, and then added glitter for that extra "bling"!  You can see it better in this close up:

  

This card took a bit more time than I thought it would, but with my ipod playing, I lost all track of time and just had fun!  It's good to be adventurous and get out of your comfort zone sometimes, because you never know what you'll come up with!  This is definitely a technique I will try again! :0)

That's all for today friends.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I'll be back Monday with my latest Festive Friday challenge card.  Thanks for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)

Flowering Flourishes

Good morning friends.  Have a quick card to share with you today.  Had so much fun playing with last weeks Make it Monday technique from PTI, that I had to do one more.  I had SU!'s "Flowering Flourishes" stamp set sitting out (from all the wedding stuff!!) and got to wondering what it would look like with the watercoloring and embossing, and this is what I came up with:

I used just 2 colors (SU!'s Certainly Celery and Always Artichoke re-inkers) and then clear embossing powder. (a little hard to tell in this photo, but the clear really shines IRL!!)  Very simple, but I really like the way it turned out. In fact I made a few of them to use as thank you's for some of the people involved in my daughters wedding. 

That's all for today friends.  Set myself a goal to have all the wedding party favors finished by the end of the week, so I have quite a bit to do!  I have gotten a lot accomplished so far this week though, and I think it's the sunshine that has finally shown up in my "neck of the woods" that's helping to keep me motivated!  Have a great Wednesday everyone, and thanks for stopping by...love it when you do!! :0)